


telling (true) stories

by Murf1307



Category: Left 4 Dead (Video Games)
Genre: Holding Hands, M/M, Pre-Slash, They're Both Trans Damnit, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 12:26:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16449950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murf1307/pseuds/Murf1307
Summary: Nick and Ellis trade minor revelations and hold hands.





	telling (true) stories

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gullapip](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gullapip/gifts).



It's not that Ellis is  _ stupid _ .  Quite the opposite: Nick knows a stupid man when he sees one, and while Ellis seems kind of young and dumb at first glance, Nick knows better.

Ellis just doesn't think the  _ way _ most people do.  For Ellis, Nick's figured out, everything's a story.  Something reminds him of something else, and he seems like he's unable to shut his mouth until he's gotten the whole thing out.

Sure, it can be fucking annoying, and shit, sometimes it's dangerous, but it doesn't make Ellis  _ stupid. _

“Hey, Nick,” Ellis says, as all four of them collapse into a saferoom after a tangle with three Witches and a Charger, “How come you got divorced?”

Rochelle's eyes widen a little, and Coach's jaw drops.

Nick, though, has one of those flashes of insight that have always been invaluable in his line of work:

Ellis wants a  _ story. _

Whatever the hell Ellis is trying to communicate when he wanders down his fucking word tangents, it does mean  _ something _ , and now he wants something similar back.

“Well, she didn't really like the work I was doing, the life we were leading.” He shrugs. “Probably didn't help I fucked around with her brother, but, y'know, that was when I learned that Atlantic City ain't Vegas.  What happens there don't always stay there.”

He's cavalier about it, and he's pretty sure that the way Rochelle wrinkles her nose is over the infidelity, not the homosexuality.  

Coach just shakes his head and sighs like he's not even surprised, but wishes he was.

Ellis, though, Ellis nods.  “'At makes sense, she prob'ly didn't much care for sommat like that goin’ on.”

And just like that, the room is quiet.  No rambling, no traded insults. The silence is almost companionable, and Nick wonders if he's inadvertently found a way to shut Ellis up.

“Kinda reminds me of this time —”

Spoke too soon.

 

* * *

 

Now that Nick sort of gets what’s going on with Ellis, he can’t help but pay attention, just a little, to the shit that comes out of his mouth.  

Which, well, it’s starting to be a little bit of a problem.

When he could just ignore Ellis, he had more time to pay attention to the world around them, falling to shit as it is.  Ellis’ situational awareness is  _ shit _ when he’s not behind the wheel of a car, and that means Nick, Ro, and Coach have to pick up the slack.

Nick does  _ not _ need to be getting distracted.

“So, one time,” Ellis says, sitting down besides Nick one night, when Ro and Coach have laid down to sleep, “my buddy Keith an’ I wound up in a bar we'd never gone into before.”

Nick just looks at him, raising an eyebrow, like he’s starting to think Ellis has been to every god-damn dive in Georgia, because, well, it’s sort of true.  The guy has a  _ lot _ of barroom stories, it seems, after all.

Ellis bites his lip, a nervous tick that lasts but a moment.  “An’ we realized after a minute or so that it was a gay bar, and there was like, drag queens all over th’ place.”

He’s not sure where Ellis is going with this, and so he goes a little tense.  He  _ doesn’t _ want to think that Ellis has a problem with gay people, or drag queens, but Ellis  _ is _ from Georgia, and while he hadn’t seemed disgusted when Nick mentioned sleeping with his wife’s brother, that doesn’t mean everything’s  _ fine _ .

“Keith got a lil uncomfortable at first, ‘til he met this real nice girl in a Kinks t-shirt,” Ellis continues, and the tone of his voice is as though  _ he’s _ trying to suss  _ Nick _ out about this shit.

Weird.

“She an’ him started datin’ after that, but that’s not really parta this story.”  Ellis shakes his head, chuckling a little, sounding just a little bit nervous.

“What’s a part of the story, then?” Nick asks, raising an eyebrow, visibly unperturbed, though he’s  _ definitely _ curious now.

Ellis shrugs a little.  “Jus’, well, it was a nice time, an’ I met a guy, and we had a nice time.”  He’s a little flushed, and Nick realizes that Ellis is trying to  _ come out _ to him.  “Ain’t often I meet a guy who’s interested in a fella like me.”

“A redneck?”

Ellis laughs a little, and blushes.  “Nah, it ain’t that.” He shrugs again.  “Like...like I ain’t always been a guy.”

Oh.   _ Oh. _

Nick pauses for a moment, then nods.  “I can see how people could give you shit for that.”  He cracks his neck. “Why did you wanna tell me that, though?”

“Just...wanted somebody to know.  An’ you like men and women, so...figured you’d be my best bet.”

That’s honestly...pretty fair.  Somebody who’s bi is a lot less likely to be shitty about trans stuff.  Nick, well...he knows that from experience. And it’s clear Ellis could use the sense of understanding.

Hell, Nick could, too.  “Well. You’re not the only one,” he says, fake-casual.

Ellis goes very still.  “You, too?”

“Uh-huh.”  He narrows his eyes at Ellis.  “Don’t fucking tell the others, though.  Just in case.”

“Wasn’t gonna,” Ellis says, nodding.  “...Thanks, though. For sayin’ so.”

Nick nods, and that’s it.  They just sit there for a while, and Nick is surprised to find he doesn’t hate it.

Ellis isn’t  _ awful _ to be around.  And now they have this thing in common, and Nick can’t help but feel a little protective as a result.  He’s not used to feeling that way.

He’s  _ definitely _ not used to liking it.

 

* * *

 

It goes like that for the next few days.  Ellis doesn’t change any, during the daytime -- all that inane chatter about his cousin Keith keeps right on going.

But at night, when it’s Nick’s turn to keep watch, Ellis will sit down next to them.

Sometimes, they talk.  Not a lot, though.

Tonight, it’s been a hard day.  A Tank almost took Coach’s head off, and would have, if not for Rochelle’s quick thinking and quicker trigger.  A Smoker got at Nick, and it took a minute for the others to get him down, so his throat hurts.

He’s not going to be doing a lot of talking tonight, he thinks.  If Ellis wants to talk, though, he’ll listen.

Ellis sits a little closer than he normally does, and Nick’s about to shift away when Ellis reaches out and takes his hand.  It's not a tight hold, and Nick could easily pull away if he wants to.

It's a hell of a surprise when he finds he doesn't want to.

Nick's always been a gambler, though, so he laces his fingers with Ellis's smoothly, like this is far from the first time Ellis has done this.

“Scared me there for a second, 'fore Ro got you down,” Ellis murmurs.

“I'm fine,” Nick insists, a little raspy.

Ellis squeezes his hand, just a little.  “Jus’...stay that way, alright?”

Nick nods, squeezing back.

He thinks he can do that.


End file.
